7 things the most successful people do that make them the best

7 things the fruchtwein successful people do that make them the best7 things the most successful people do that make them the bestWant to be mora successful? Actually, thats not ambitious enough - want to be the best?I do. SoI called my friendDaniel Coyle, author of the best books on getting better at anythingThe Talent CodeandThe Little Book of Talent.Dan knows that the 10,000 hour rule is nice but you need to align your effort with the way your brain was designed to learn.Hours are vital, but you can get to mastery faster - much faster - by practicing the right way.So how can you and I do that?Here are 7 steps experts use1. Be uncomfortableYou learn best when youre reaching. Flow is great. But flow is not the best way to learn.You want to be stretched to the edge of your ability. It needs to be hard. Thats how your brain grows.Heres DanWe learn when were in our discomfort zone.When youre struggling, thats when youre getting smarter. The more time you spend there, the faster you learn.Its better to spend a very, very high quality ten minutes, or even ten seconds, than it is to spend a mediocre hour.You want to practice where you are on the edge of your ability, reaching over and over again, making mistakes, failing, realizing those mistakes and reaching again.More on the best way for you to practice here.2. Stop reading. Start doing.Keep the Rule of Two-Thirds in mind. Spend only one third of your time studying.The other two-thirds of your time you want to be doing the activity. Practicing. Testing yourself.Get your nose out of that book. Avoid the classroom. Whatever it is you want to be the best at, be doing it.The closer your practice is to the real thing, the faster you learn.Heres DanOur brains evolved to learn by doing things, not by hearing about them. This is one of the reasons that, for a lot of skills, its much better to spend about two thirds of your time testing yourself on it rather than absorbing it. Theres a rule of two thirds. If you want to , say, memorize a passage, its better to spend 30 percent of your time reading it, and the other 70 percent of your time testing yourself on that knowledge.More on how to shift from reading to doinghere.3. The sweet spotYou want to be successful 60-80% of the time when training. Thats the sweet spot for improvement.When learning is too hard, we quit.When its too easy. . . well, we quit then, too.Always be upping the challenge to stay in that 60-80% zone.Heres DanYou dont want to be succeeding 40 percent of the time. Thats flailing around. You dont want to be succeeding 95 percent of the time. Thats too easy.You want to constantly be toggling, adjusting the environment so that youre succeeding 60 to 80 percent of the time.More on how to find your sweet spot for learninghere.4. Commit to the long termAsking someoneHow long are you going to be doing this? was the best predictor of how skilled that person would end up being.Merelycommittingto the long haul had huge effects.Heres DanThe question that ended up being the most predictive of skill was How long are you going to be doing this? Commitment was the difference maker. The people who combined commitment with a little bit of practice, their skills went off the charts.Commit to the long haul. Dont give up. Even works for mice.More on how long term commitment can take you to the next levelhere.5. Find arole modelWatching the best people work is one of the most powerful things you can do.Its motivating, inspiring and its how you were built to learn.Study the best to be the best.Heres DanWhen we stare at someone we want to become and we have a really clear idea of where we want to be, it unlocks a tremendous amount of energy. Were social creatures, and when we get the idea that we want to join some enchanted circle up above us, that is what really lights up motivation. Look, they did it. I can do it. It sounds very basic, but spending time staring at the best can be one of the most powerful things you do.More on fi nding the best mentor for you here.6. Naps are steroids for your brainNapping isnt for the lazy. Its one of the habits of the most successful people in any field.Sleep is essential to learning. Naps are a tool that will make you the best.Heres DanNapping is a high wertzuwachs activity. If you looked into the habits of highly successful people you would see a lot of naps, a lot of recovery. Its sort of our brains janitorial service. It helps us clean out the stuff we dont want. It also helps us work on ideas while were asleep. Top performers use sleep as a tool.More on how astronauts use sleep to increase performance here.7. Keep anotebookEminem keeps a journal. Peyton Manning keeps a journal.Top performers track their progress, set goals, reflect and learn from their mistakes.Heres DanMost people who are taking an ownership role in their talent development use this magical tool called a notebook. Keep a performance journal. If you want to get better, you need a map, and that journal is that map. You can write down what you did today, what you tried to do, where you made mistakes. Its a distributions-mix to reflect. Its a place to capture information. Its a place to be able to track your progress. Its one of the most underused yet powerful tools that I could imagine anybody using.More on how to use a notebook to be your best here.If you only remember two words from this . . .Dan says the two key words are Reach and Stare.Reach Always push yourself to the edge of your ability.Stare Look at those better than you and emulate them.Heres DanI would say, Reach. Get out on the edge of your ability. Get into your discomfort zone and reach past that. And I would say, Stare. Find somebody you want to be in two years, three years, five years, and stare at that person. See what theyre doing. See exactly what theyre doing, and steal that. Steal from them.Sum upSadly, you werent born an expert.But you can become one with practice and time. Start now. Youll be amazed at what you can achieveIll be sending out more tips from Dan in my weekly emaille.Join 45K+ readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related postsWhat 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?8 Things The Worlds Most Successful People All Have In CommonHow To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple EmailsThis article originally appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.7 things the most successful people do that make them the bestWant to be more successful? Actually, thats not ambitious enough - want to be the best?I do. SoI called my friendDaniel Coyle, author of the best books on getting better at anythingThe Talent CodeandThe Little Book of Talent.Dan knows that the 10,000-hour rule is nice but you need to align your effort with the way your brain was designed to learn.Hours are vital, but you can get to mastery faster - much faster - by practicing the right way.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreSo how can you and I do that?Here are 7 steps experts use1. Be uncomfortableYou learn best when youre reaching. Flow is great. But flow is not the best way to learn.You want to be stretched to the edge of your ability. It needs to be hard. Thats how your brain grows.Heres DanWe learn when were in our discomfort zone.When youre struggling, thats when youre getting smarter. The more time you spend there, the faster you learn.Its better to spend a very, very high quality ten minutes, or even ten seconds, than it is to spend a mediocre hour.You want to practice where you are on the edge of your ability, reaching over and over again, making mistakes, failing, realizing those mistakes and reaching again.More on the best way for you to practice here.2. Stop reading. Start doing.Keep the Rule of Two-Thirds in mind. Spend only one third of your time studying.The other two-thirds of your time you want to be doing the activity. Practicing. Testing yourself.G et your nose out of that book. Avoid the classroom. Whatever it is you want to be the best at, be doing it.The closer your practice is to the real thing, the faster you learn.Heres DanOur brains evolved to learn by doing things, not by hearing about them. This is one of the reasons that, for a lot of skills, its much better to spend about two thirds of your time testing yourself on it rather than absorbing it. Theres a rule of two thirds. If you want to, say, memorize a passage, its better to spend 30 percent of your time reading it, and the other 70 percent of your time testing yourself on that knowledge.More on how to shift from reading to doinghere.3. The sweet spotYou want to be successful 60-80% of the time when training. Thats the sweet spot for improvement.When learning is too hard, we quit.When its too easy. . . well, we quit then, too.Always be upping the challenge to stay in that 60-80% zone.Heres DanYou dont want to be succeeding 40 percent of the time. Thats flailing aro und. You dont want to be succeeding 95 percent of the time. Thats too easy.You want to constantly be toggling, adjusting the environment so that youre succeeding 60 to 80 percent of the time.More on how to find your sweet spot for learninghere.4. Commit to the long termAsking someoneHow long are you going to be doing this? was the best predictor of how skilled that person would end up being.Merelycommittingto the long haul had huge effects.Heres DanThe question that ended up being the most predictive of skill was How long are you going to be doing this? Commitment was the difference maker. The people who combined commitment with a little bit of practice, their skills went off the charts.Commit to the long haul. Dont give up. Even works for mice.More on how long term commitment can take you to the next levelhere.5. Find arole modelWatching the best people work is one of the most powerful things you can do.Its motivating, inspiring and its how you were built to learn.Study the best to be the best.Heres DanWhen we stare at someone we want to become and we have a really clear idea of where we want to be, it unlocks a tremendous amount of energy. Were social creatures, and when we get the idea that we want to join some enchanted circle up above us, that is what really lights up motivation. Look, they did it. I can do it. It sounds very basic, but spending time staring at the best can be one of the most powerful things you do.More on finding the best mentor for you here.6. Naps are steroids for your brainNapping isnt for the lazy. Its one of the habits of the most successful people in any field.Sleep is essential to learning. Naps are a tool that will make you the best.Heres DanNapping is a high performance activity. If you looked into the habits of highly successful people you would see a lot of naps, a lot of recovery. Its sort of our brains janitorial service. It helps us clean out the stuff we dont want. It also helps us work on ideas while were asleep. Top perf ormers use sleep as a tool.More on how astronauts use sleep to increase performance here.7. Keep anotebookEminem keeps a journal. Peyton Manning keeps a journal.Top performers track their progress, set goals, reflect and learn from their mistakes.Heres DanMost people who are taking an ownership role in their talent development use this magical tool called a notebook. Keep a performance journal. If you want to get better, you need a map, and that journal is that map. You can write down what you did today, what you tried to do, where you made mistakes. Its a place to reflect. Its a place to capture information. Its a place to be able to track your progress. Its one of the most underused yet powerful tools that I could imagine anybody using.More on how to use a notebook to be your best here.If you only remember two words from this . . .Dan says the two key words are Reach and Stare.Reach Always push yourself to the edge of your ability.Stare Look at those better than you and emulate th em.Heres DanI would say, Reach. Get out on the edge of your ability. Get into your discomfort zone and reach past that. And I would say, Stare. Find somebody you want to be in two years, three years, five years, and stare at that person. See what theyre doing. See exactly what theyre doing, and steal that. Steal from them.Sum upSadly, you werent born an expert.But you can become one with practice and time. Start now. Youll be amazed at what you can achieveIll be sending out more tips from Dan in my weekly email.Join 300K+ readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.This article originally appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.